The Los Angeles Dodgers will bring back manager Don Mattingly next season regardless of how the team performs the rest of September, according to general manager Ned Colletti. The club has struggled in recent weeks following a couple of blockbuster trades that brought Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and others to L.A., although they remain in the thick of the National League wildcard race.
Here is Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles with quotes from the GM:
"I think he's done a really good job of keeping it together and there's never an excuse. He doesn't give any and he doesn't take any," Colletti said. "I don't have any doubt that our efforts every day are there, and I think that's one of the main jobs of a manager, to make sure guys are into it.
"You know that if you get beat, it's not a happy room, it's not one people take lightly and are cavalier. It means something to everybody and that's a credit to him and his staff."
It seemed likely that Mattingly would return regardless of the Dodgers' postseason fate, although to hear Colletti confirm the news just about makes it a done deal. You would be hard pressed to find someone around the club who isn't happy with what the former Dodger has done with the team this season.
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